CH 21

Arc-3 Chapter-1: Black Market Transactions and Their Rewards

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"And?"

Sitting on the sofa in front of Naoya is a foreign gentleman with deep sculpted features. His clothes were sophisticated down to the smallest of details, and his short silver hair was stroked without a trace of disarray.

He looks as if he has just walked out of a movie.

His eyes were so sharp that it was as if he was holding a knife to my throat.

Behind the gentleman, Koyuki and Sakuya were looking at each other as if they were in trouble. Both of them seemed to be unsure of how to intervene.

In the midst of all this, the gentleman looks straight at Naoya and asks him a question.

"Let's hear your answer now, Sasahara-kun."

"Uh, let's see....."

Naoya could only smile a tight smile.

Nothing but thoughts of "How did this happen?" filled my head.

While almost losing consciousness under the sharp glare, Naoya vaguely recalled the beginning of his relationship with her.

It was just three days ago.

I was eating lunch with Koyuki during our usual lunch break, but there was a slight change in the lineup that day.

Koyuki's younger sister, Sakuya, was there with her. Besides the purpose of eating lunch together, there was another important matter to attend to.

"Um, so that item you were talking about the other day..."

Naoya rummaged through the bag he had brought with him and pulled out what he was looking for.

"Here. Kirihiko-san's autograph paper."

"......!"

The moment she saw it, Sakuya's eyebrows twitched. Her poker face was the same as ever. However, Naoya, who had communicated with her many times since then, could tell that she was in a state of "heightened tension".

Sakuya took the colored paper with trembling hands, hugged it to her chest, and bowed deeply.

"Thank you so much, Brother-in-law..... No, Onii-sama."

"I've risen in rank!?"

It is easy to see the change in favorability.

Next to her, Koyuki furrowed her thin eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, Sasahara-kun. I'm sorry for being so selfish."

"It's okay. Kirihiko-san also said so."

Apparently, Sakuya was a big fan of the writer, Kirihiko Akaneya.

When Koyuki came home and somehow told her that she had met the guy, her sister went crazy. When Naoya heard that, he thought to himself, "I would have like to have seen that."

That's when she asked her for an autograph, half on her knees.

"I don't mind ♡ If she's Koyuki's sister, she certainly won't be reselling it."

Kirihiko quickly agreed, and the autograph paper was safely delivered to Sakuya.

She let out a hot breath and stared at the colored paper.

"Indeed, this is Akaneya-sensei's handwriting. I never thought we lived in the same city."

"Oh, you didn't know? You said she is your favorite author."

"Akaneya-sensei doesn't use Twitter or anything like that, so I don't know any of her personal information."

Sakuya's shoulders slumped. Naoya nodded his head in agreement.

"It's true that she's rather lazy and doesn't seem to be good at social networking. Oh, if you want, Sakuya, do you want to go see her sometimes?"

"I'll pass....."

In response to Naoya's offer, Sakuya shook her head.

"I'm just a fan. I don't want to barge in and cause trouble."

"No, I think it's okay. She said she'd like to meet Shirogane-San's sister."

"...To be honest I'd rather not because I think I'd die if I saw her face".

"Uh, yeah."

"After all, it is only by watching over your favorite from afar that you will be able to..."

Sakuya hugged the autograph paper tightly and looked distantly at it.

As expected of the President of the Shirogane Club. She is very strict in the way she gives her opinion.

Wrapping the autograph paper in plastic, Sakuya bowed again to Naoya.

"For now, I want to thank you, Nii-Sama. What would you like? I'll try to accommodate your request as best I can."

"No, no, no, don't do that. I am merely a carrier of sorts"

"That's right, Sakuya."

As she munched on the meatballs in her lunchbox, Koyuki gave her sister a clear smile.

"The Manager is just being nice, Sasahara-kun didn't do anything in particular. You don't need to thank him."

"'When did you two get so close...! If they get any closer, it'll be  bad!" You mean? Don't worry, I'm not interested in any girls other than Shirogane-San."

"You know, I don't think it's fair to assert that..."

As Koyuki flinched, Sakuya nonchalantly continued.

"I'm also a fixed-cap extremist with Nii-Sama x Onee-San, so don't worry, NTR necromancy is a minefield... Oh, right, that's it."

Then Sakuya clapped her hands.

"Then, Nii-Sama, why don't you come visit us on your next day off?"

"Huh?"

"EH?!"